The invention disclosed herein pertains to motor operated organic waste disposers, such as food waste disposers that are commonly mounted to a kitchen sink, for receiving and grinding food waste, along with water, into fine particles which are flushed out and ultimately arrive in a public sewer system or a septic tank.
It is well known that some soaps and fats from the kitchen sink and other food waste that is discharged from a disposer can build up deposits on the interior of the piping running from the disposer to the ultimate destination of the waste. In due course, the deposited layer thickens and either impairs drainage or completely blocks it. When there is complete blockage, the common practice has been to introduce a caustic material into the piping system, usually through a sink drain, in expectation that the caustic material will react with and dissolve the deposits for being flushed away. The caustic material is known to cause toxic shock and other harm to the bacteria that act on the waste in a septic tank.
Some householders now introduce bio-enzyme products into the drain piping to digest and loosen or remove waste deposits so they can be flushed away with water. Bio-enzyme products have demonstrated a capability for consuming organic waste in piping and in other accumulators of waste such as septic tanks.
A septic tank depends on bacteria and on the enzymes produced by bacteria to digest waste material that is fed into the tank. The digested material constitutes a fluidized layer that can be conducted to leaching beds. A beneficial quantity of bacteria must be maintained at a certain level for the septic tank to function properly and efficiently. However, in many cases, all waste water generated in a dwelling is conducted to a septic tank. Waste water discharged from a dwelling often contains substances that causes toxic shock to bacteria which might be otherwise active in digesting waste deposited in piping or in a septic tank. Common examples of such deleterious substances are caustic materials such as lye, used for cleaning drains, detergents, bactericidal hand and dishwashing detergents and soap, acids such as from citrus fruits, chlorine bleaches from clothes washing machines, antibiotics from medications as well as various chemicals and even very hot water.
A consequence of a reduced bacteria concentration is that the septic tank becomes less efficient and congested with undigested solids and thereby inhibits infeed of organic waste and the water that entrains it. When this condition is reached, the usual remedy is to have the tank pumped out by an expert who supplies the service. Sometimes a fresh quantity of bio-enzymes is introduced into the septic tank after it has been pumped out to condition the tank for receiving and digesting organic waste. It would be desirable if the bio-enzyme concentration in the piping leading to the tank and to the tank itself could be held at a high level such that pipe clogging and the frequency of pumping out the contents of the tank would be reduced.
Bacteria materials for producing bio-enzymes are available for purchase in retail stores. Some householders have adopted the practice of keeping their drain piping and sewerage system clear of organic deposits by introducing such materials periodically into the plumbing system. In this way they can compensate for the reduction in bio-enzyme concentration in the sewerage system that has resulted from toxic shock. However, septic tank owners are unlikely to develop and follow a regular schedule for introducing fresh bio-enzyme yielding materials into the plumbing and septic tank. It will be apparent that it would be highly desirable to have a device for automatically introducing fresh bio-enzyme yielding bacteria concentrate into drain pipes daily to offset daily toxic shock whether the destination of the organic waste is a public sewerage system or a septic tank. Daily additions of bio-enzyme provides bacterial seeding that allows the septic system to restore and maintain a required level of efficiency.